It has been the practice over the years in tennis racquet construction to provide a generally elliptical or circular closed frame to which interlaced transverse and longitudinal strings are attached under substantial tension to provide a yieldable playing head. With older type wood-frame racquets the handle, extending from the playing head and terminating in a hand grip was generally of solid construction, including a flared web or throat portion adjacent the playing head. When metal frames of tubular, I-beam, or other appropriate cross sectional contour have been employed, it has been customary to rigidly join the metal frame at the handle end of the playing head to complete the elliptical contour of the playing head and provide mounting means for the central longitudinal strings.
Tennis racquets of these varied constructions have characteristically had a so-called "sweet spot" in the playing head which is relatively small in comparison to the area of the playing head, and which is located considerably off center, longitudinally, in the direction of the handle of the racquet. The size and location of the "sweet spot" is of primary importance as this is the area in which a ball can be hit with maximum power and control. For it to be off-center toward the handle is doubly disadvantageous.
First the tendency is for a player to contact the ball, if possible, with the center of the playing head, and only the experts have the degree of control which enable that contact to be made closer to the handle.
Secondly, the conventional racquet does not provide the range which structural appearance would suggest in effectively playing hard to reach balls because the outer six inches or so of the playing head in the direction of the tip end of the racquet becomes progressively more "dead", and incapable of imparting speed and control of a ball being returned.
A recent innovation known as the "Prince" racquet has significantly enlarged the "sweet spot" by enlarging the area of the playing head, both in length and width while maintaining standard overall length (normally about 27 inches) in the racquet. This means that the playing head has been extended toward the handle, and much of the increase in area of the "sweet spot" is in the direction of the handle. The net effect is to provide a racquet which may improve the handling and control of close, easy to reach balls, but still does not enable the player to effectively handle and control the hard to reach balls.